20 gallon high sump, help.

[BigFinn]

Ok so I am going to try and make a sump from my 20 high and I have a few questions. This isn't going to be the build thread I will make another for that if I decide to.

My first question is how should I power the intake tube? From what I've read it seems that everyone just uses the vacuum like a gravel siphon.

If that's the only way how could I keep my sump from over flowing when the power or pump go out?

This is going to be on a 100 gallon with a penguin 400 HOB. Would this be enough filtration?

How large of a pump should I have I was thinking 600-800 because I plan on being heavily stocked.

What is the best media I should use?

How high should I make each divider between the media?

How do I match the flow rate of the intake and output?

Those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head right now. Sorry for all of the questions, but there will probably be more coming lol.


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[BigFinn]

Anyone?


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[arcatekt]

BigFinn,

Definitely good questions, I saw your post a couple days ago but been a little busy. For the overflow, it does involve use of a siphon to transport the water out of the tank into the sump. The key is that the siphon needs to be maintained so that any time water is pumped from the sump to the display tank, water from the display tank will be displaced through the siphon back to the sump. I use 2" PVC for my overflows on my 125 gal freshwater tank. I can post a picture and some drawings of my setup, just let me know. With this correct arrangement of the overflow, loss of power should not be a problem because the pump will turn off, no more water will flow into the tank, and the amount of excess water in the display tank will drain back in the sump. This is all assuming the overflow is correctly configured so that the siphon is maintained and the sump has enough reserve capacity to hold the water draining down from the display tank.
For the size of pump used, you want to figure out what flowrate you want and display tank turnover rate. That is number of times the display tank volume is cycled through the sump for filtration. For my tank with a pump that pumps around 700 gph, my turnover is 5,6 times per hour. An ideal turnover rate is 5-10 times per hour but that depends on how heavily stocked the tank is. I am currently setting up a 300 gal acrylic tank and am looking at a turnover rate of 5 or 6 times per hour. This should give you an idea about pump capacity. Keep in mind that pump head will change depending on what height the pump is pushing water to. Look at the pump specs for exact numbers for the flowrates.
Media is based on what you are willing to spend. You can buy the bioballs or just purchase uncoated pot scrubbers from the dollar store. Many options for biological filtration are out there. For mechanical filtration, I just use filter floss and filter socks to get all the solid particulate out of the water. Do some research for the chemical filtration. If you are already running carbon in your HOB filter, then you may not need to do anything more for chemical filtration. I would definitely recommend adding some more mechanical and biological filtration in the sump though.
Heights of baffles is all based on what you want the normal operation level in the sections of the sump to be. You want enough water so that the pump won't cavitate with air but you don't want levels too high so that if power is lost, there is room in the sump for all the excess display tank water and add in an additional 10-15% buffer room as well. If you want some sump designs, look through the DIY filter forum or let me know and I can post some of mine. I've gone through a couple different iterations on designs. Hopefully this is enough to answer some of your questions and please keep in my that all my recommendations are based on my experiences and are not the only effective way to accomplish the filtration you're talking about. I still go through the forums frequently looking for new ideas. Let me know if you have more questions. Cheers.

 

[BigFinn]

Thanks alot for your reply. It helped a lot! I think that's all the questions I have for now but if you don't mind could u post a few pictures of your setup?


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